Chapter 226

My hands were trembling but I took a deep breath and regained my composure . No . Yoo Jonghyuk couldn’t be dead . Above all, the message that caught my attention was evidence .

[You are currently waiting for the next main scenario . ]

Based on common sense, Yoo Jonghyuk shouldn’t be given the exile penalty . It was because Yoo Jonghyuk would’ve entered a new scenario like me .

There might be variations for individual scenarios but he became a duke as soon as I became a duke . It meant that like me, Yoo Jonghyuk was a ‘demon king candidate . ’

[There is currently a delay in the compensation due to an error in the Star Stream system . ]

However, there was this one message . It was very rare to acquire a story or achievement through ‘impersonation’ in the Star Stream . This time, Yoo Jonghyuk and I impersonated each other and made achievements in each other’s name .

What if the main scenario of the Star Stream was twisted because of this? I entered the main scenario safely but what if Yoo Jonghyuk didn’t enter? Was that why the exile penalty began?

“Are you okay?”

“…Do you have a glass of water?”

Aileen stared at me with disbelieving eyes for a moment . “Don’t pull out the catheter again while I’m gone . ”

Aileen left the room and I calmly reexamined the situation . I had to be composed . It wasn’t clear whether Yoo Jonghyuk had died or not . It was likely that he had been killed by the start of the exile penalty just prior to the release of Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, but absolute certainty was a taboo in the Star Stream . I needed to first confirm Yoo Jonghyuk’s life or death properly .

“Biyoo . ”

Biyoo had expanded the channel to the Gilobat side . If Biyoo helped, I might be able to see the area using the eyes of a constellation .

“Biyoo . Do you hear me?”

Did something happen? There was no response from Biyoo . I couldn’t even hear the messages from other constellations . I felt uneasy for a moment . What happened to Biyoo while I was away?

…Huh? I listened quietly and could hear Biyoo breathing near me . Biyoo’s transparent body was lying on my chest, fast asleep .

I sighed with relief . I would’ve been devastated if something happened to Biyoo .

“…I’m sorry . ” I stroked Biyoo’s head . According to Ways of Survival, a dokkaebi must sleep for at least half a day when it was just born . I was sleeping so it wasn’t strange for Biyoo to have fallen asleep .

It was a situation where Biyoo had exhausted her strength due to overworking .

I decided to use the second method .

[The exclusive skill, ‘Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint’ has been activated!]

Then my temples started throbbing .

[The skill is cancelled due to accumulated damage . ]

…Damn, this didn’t work either . It seemed that I suffered a huge blow when my link with Yoo Jonghyuk was severed .

In the end, I picked up the smartphone again . It was the first time I felt so helpless . I didn’t know if Yoo Jonghyuk was dead or not and the only thing I could do was read the novel .

No, don’t think like this . Kim Dokja, please wake up . You’ve survived so far thanks to this novel .

I bit my lips and opened Ways of Survival again . Everything came from this story . Thus, the answer would be in the story .

[The attribute effect has increased ‘speed reading’!]

I read the book with wide eyes, not missing a single word or sentence .

「 ‘At that time, we shouldn’t have pretended to support the Demon King Asmodeus . ’」

It was hard to see it as Yoo Jonghyuk and I pretending to support Asmodeus this time . I might’ve deceived him but in the end, there was a nuance that he would still cooperate with us . I couldn’t be sure that Yoo Jonghyuk was dead with this sentence alone .

The 13th round .

The 134h round .

…

Yoo Jonghyuk’s regressions continued . It took longer than before but his spirit was gradually worn down by the continuous regressions .

「 ‘It is hard . ’ 」

The 18th round .

「 ‘I want to quit now . ’ 」

The 21st round .

「 ‘Dammit, dammit, dammit!’ 」

…

I read about Yoo Jonghyuk’s despair and also felt my heart burning . As time went by, Yoo Jonghyuk returned to his original pessimistic form . A regressor who survived every regression using the principles of only thinking about himself .

「 ‘I can’t change anything . ’ 」

He went back, went back and went back again . In the second half of the novel, there was no big difference with the Ways of Survival that I read before . Apart from the first half that I influenced, Yoo Jonghyuk made similar mistakes and regained similar tendencies .

「 ‘Damn, a few more times…’ 」

I spent several months with Yoo Jonghyuk but I was only able to have this much influence on the novel . I wanted to reach out to the frustrated Yoo Jonghyuk but Yoo Jonghyuk was in a place I couldn’t reach . The 25th, 26th, 27th rounds… Yoo Jonghyuk constantly repeated the regressions and I had to stop reading .

It was painful to read . The original Ways of Survival was a story like this . How did I read all 3,149 chapters?

Due to my irregular breathing, Biyoo attached to my chest was moving uncomfortably .

I remembered the page number before scrolling down to the bottom . It might be burdensome to follow this story right now but there was something I had to check first .

Did Yoo Jonghyuk reach the proper ending in the first revision? Did the author write the epilogue?

The screen hitched badly while I was scrolling due to the poor performance of the smartphone . How long did I scroll down? I finally reached the spot where the original ending should be . However, I only found a huge void .

「 Current being edited . ㅠㅠ 」

There was a one line message . I was swept away by two different emotions .

“…Haha . ”

The emoticon that followed the word ‘edited’ angered me but some of the possibilities that came from the message made me excited . This story could still be changed . There was a way even if Yoo Jonghyuk was dead . Somehow I had to bring him back to this regression .

I scrolled through with a determined feeling . Then the sentences that were written in the section before the ending caught my attention .

「 Before the end of the scenario, Yoo Jonghyuk recalled countless memories of his death . 」

「 ‘In the third round, I almost died the first time I met Asmodeus . ’ 」

I had too many thoughts .

…Eh? Wait . This was currently the third round…

There was a knock on the door and I raised my head to see Mark . He saw that I was awake and waved . “R-Revolutionary! You woke up? It is fortunate . ”

“What is going on?”

“Nothing . I just wanted to let you know that someone came to see you . ”

I was busy and wanted to tell him to come back later when Mark continued speaking . “The owner of the industrial complex is looking for you . ”

“Huh?”

“The owner of the industrial complex has come to visit you . ”

What did he mean? Wasn’t I the owner of the industrial complex?

“Get out of the way . ”

The next moment, someone pushed past Mark and entered the room . It was a presence that changed the atmosphere just by standing there .

I stared blankly at the man with my mouth gaping open . Yoo Jonghyuk, who I thought was dead, was standing in front of me .

***

It took me a bit more time to come to my senses . Aileen, who came back, glanced at us and disappeared after arranging the table while the blankly standing Mark also avoided this place . Once the surroundings became quiet, I opened my mouth first . “When did you come here?”

“Two days ago . ”

I was ashamed of myself for freaking out in the last 10 minutes . The man I had been worried about was walking around the same industrial complex while I had all sorts of delusions about his death .

“…How did you survive? It was a situation where you couldn’t survive . ”

“I received a bit of help . ”

“From who? Was it your sponsor?”

“That guy has never helped me once . ”

I asked for his help but I didn’t think he would actually help . From the beginning to the end of Ways of Survival, all he did was make Yoo Jonghyuk regress . Yoo Jonghyuk’s wounds had healed and he looked quite healthy .

“A constellation helped me . ”

“A constellation? Who?”

“You don’t need to know the details . ”

“What did you give in exchange? None of them would help for nothing . ”

“I just received a slight penalty . ”

“Penalty?”

“Until the Demon World scenario is over, I will disappear for 10 minutes a day . ”

“Disappear? What does this mean?”

“Something like that . In any case, I have now entered the main scenario and the scenario error has been resolved . There is no need to worry about it . ”

Yoo Jonghyuk’s expression while speaking seemed like he had solved something . It was somewhat troubling . I had fallen asleep for a week and Yoo Jonghyuk survived with the help of someone unrelated to me . Then he came here to finish become the ruler of the industrial complex .

“…”

Perhaps it was because it was rare to talk to Yoo Jonghyuk like this . An awkward silence filled the treatment room . Yoo Jonghyuk stared blankly down at the table while drinking tea .

I wanted to ask why he came here . I wanted to ask what he would do in the future . However, completely different words emerged from my mouth .

“The others… are they doing well?”

In fact, Yoo Jonghyuk couldn’t know . He was a person who only filled his head with the scenarios . Such a person wouldn’t care about what other people were doing . I deliberately wanted to nag at him . Please don’t live your life alone . If he lived like that, he could never reach the end of the scenario . I meant to give this speech . By the way…

“Lee Hyunsung went to the army . ” Yoo Jonghyuk started talking . “Jung Heewon and Lee Jihye are training new incarnations . They are strengthening their power in preparing for the future disaster scenarios . ”

“…Eh?”

“Yoo Sangah and Han Sooyoung are in contact with government officials . ”

“The two of them are together?”

It was the first time I saw Yoo Jonghyuk saying so many words . Maybe this was why I fell into his story .

“Gong Pildu is buying land in Seongnam to build a huge castle . He seems to really think he is a king . ”

“Haha, that ahjussi is really…”

“The two children are doing well . They seem to throw a coin every time they are bored . ”

I was fascinated as Yoo Jonghyuk continued to speak in a blunt voice . Some stories were easy to understand while others took a bit more time . Nevertheless, they were all stories of someone I knew . The people I liked were living stories in a place where I didn’t exist .

As I listened, I felt somewhat sweet, sad and nostalgic . “Everybody is busy living . ”

I felt a strange loneliness at the end of the story . I see . Everyone was living well .

[The exclusive skill ‘Fourth Wall’ is shaking . ]

I realized that I was an ‘outsider’ of this story .

「 The 25th regression Yoo Jonghyuk said, ‘I can’t change anything . ’ 」

Without me, people were still continuing the scenarios . Just like Yoo Jonghyuk repeated the regressions . The 4th, 5th, 6th rounds… it led to an endless story where I could be easily forgotten . Meanwhile, people would move towards the ending . It was natural . It might be natural but I felt pained at the reminder .

I bit my lips and tried to say something . I’m glad . The words didn’t emerge from my mouth . Then I heard Yoo Jonghyuk’s voice . “In addition, everyone is telling your story . ”

I slowly raised my head at the words . Yoo Jonghyuk’s face was still expressionless . “They say it a lot . Your story . ”

I smiled slightly while covering my eyes with both hands . I didn’t appear so on the surface but I wanted to say that I was smiling . In the small darkness created with both hands, Yoo Jonghyuk’s voice was heard again as he drank tea .

“Let’s go back to Earth, Kim Dokja . ”

TL: Rainbow Turtle